Ethnic Literatures of the U.S.: Black Lives Mattering Dr. Everett Hamner Western Illinois University, Spring 2018, Wednesdays 12:30-3 ENG348: Q01 (Quad Cities Complex 2206), westernonline.wiu.edu Office hours M 11-1, W 11-12, Th 11-12 in QCC 2209 e-hamner@wiu.edu, 309-762-3999 x62247

General Catalog Description & Prerequisites (General Education/Multicultural Studies) Study of literary texts, authors, and genres from various ethnic groups in the U.S. Examinations of culturally specific and cross-cultural questions including issues of race, class, and gender. Specific Description & Goals For many, it is hard to know where or how to start talking about the overwhelming injustice that has characterized the treatment of blacks in America. Long after the era of slavery and Jim Crow, statistics about incarceration, educational opportunity, wealth inequality, and gun violence remain daunting—if not even more painful for their endurance. Many Americans never broach the subject, neither within nor across perceived racial divides: some remain oblivious to the ongoing reality of this oppression, while others feel unable to face the guilt it raises. There is also the fear of accidental offense; it seems so much safer not to talk about—with the sad irony, of course, that the lines of division deepen, the system grows ever more self-perpetuating, blinding us increasingly to anything but the horrors and the failures, as if anything like the richness of our nation’s music, food, religious expressions, sports, or indeed literature could have developed without extensive black contributions. That way lies only further insularity and more failures of empathy. This course aims to interrupt these patterns. We will talk about race and racism frankly and graciously, regularly and directly, and we will do so via the mediation of stories. Some will be fictional and some nonfictional, but all will be truthful. Some of our texts will represent the rapidly growing canon of African American literature, while others will be too recent for critical consensus to have developed. All will ask us to honestly face our innermost reactions and our unintended communication habits; these works demand greater humility, courage, willingness to change, resistance to easy answers, patience, and grace. They will require courageously confronting violence in many forms, including rape and murder, but they will reward us with deeper visions of peacekeeping and self-sacrificial love. Our journey begins in 2009 on the platform of a Bay Area train station, but soon tunnels underground to the Deep South, New York City, and Los Angeles. It is equally committed to time travel, shifting from the present to the 1960s-70s, 1930s-40s, and antebellum America, as well as to cross-genre expeditions, putting YA fiction in conversation with Academy Award-winning films and Pulitzer-winning novels. In sum, through our reading and viewing and by writing three relatively short, nontraditional papers, we will build a far stronger grasp of the historical patterns confronted by the Black Lives Matter movement and of the roles of African American novels, films, and essays in shaping and responding to new visions of blackness, whiteness, and other racial categories.

2 Reading & Assignment Schedule PLEASE NOTE: ~“VIEWING,” “READING,” or “WRITING” = watch, read, or complete in full BEFORE class ~“IN CLASS” = no preparation required

1st WEEK, JAN 16TH: OSCAR, HIS FAMILY, & US IN CLASS: ~Fruitvale Station (2013)

~Introductions (using introductory survey handout) ~Syllabus review and discussion of goals and assignments

Part 1: Marching Today

2nd WEEK, JAN 23RD: MARTIN & MALCOLM & STARR READING: ~Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (2017), ch. 1-12 (pp. 1-219) IN CLASS: ~Group discussion of New Literary History of America essays: “Letter from Birmingham

Jail” & “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” plus glimpses of Ho Che Anderson’s King: A Comics Biography (1993) and Spike Lee’s Malcolm X (1992)

~Discussion of Paper #1 and access to four film options (check iShare, public libraries, & streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, HBO, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu)

3rd WEEK, JAN 30TH: WALKING & DRIVING WHILE BLACK READING: ~Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (2017), ch. 13-26 (pp. 220-444) IN CLASS: ~Group study of essays from Jesmyn Ward’s The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race (Carol Anderson, “White Rage”; Garnette Cadogan, “Black and Blue”; Claudia Rankine, “The Condition of Black Life is One of Mourning”) ~John Oliver, “Police Accountability” (Last Week Tonight, HBO, Oct. 2, 2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaD84DTGULo

4th WEEK, FEB 6TH: BLUE CONFLICT IN CONTEMPORARY BLACK CINEMA WRITING: ~Paper #1 (Film Analysis) due by 11 am on Western Online under “Assignments” IN CLASS: ~Quiz #1 ~Student-led discussions of BlacKkKlansman, Sorry to Bother You, Get Out, & Moonlight ~https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/black-lives-matter-eliminating-racial-inequity-in-the-criminal-justice-system/ Part 2: Invisible Yesterday

5th WEEK, FEB 13TH: SELF-POLICING & REBELLION READING: ~Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, prologue-ch. 6 (pp. 1-150) IN CLASS: ~Ralph Ellison essays/interviews on racism & the impacts of pop culture

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6th WEEK, FEB 20TH: MACHINES WITHIN THE MACHINE READING: ~Ellison, Invisible Man, ch. 7-13 (pp. 151-295) IN CLASS: ~Ralph Ellison essays/interviews on religion & ideology, plus Girardian scapegoating

7th WEEK, FEB 27TH: THE BRILLIANT SUBVERSIONS OF BLACK SURREALISM READING: ~Ellison, Invisible Man, ch. 14-20 (pp.296-444) IN CLASS: ~Group discussion of New Literary History of America essays: “Mark Twain’s hairball,” “The problem of the color line,” “Two days in Harlem,” “Up from invisibility,” and “Integrating the military” ~A deleted scene from Ellison’s Library of Congress papers & discussion of Paper #2

8th WEEK, MAR 6TH: “BLACKER EVERY DAY” … OR “DULL AND GRAY”? READING: ~Ellison, Invisible Man, ch. 21-epilogue (pp. 445-581) IN CLASS: ~Quiz #2 (covering material since Quiz #1) ~Ellison’s “Working Notes for Invisible Man,” “The Art of Fiction: An Interview” (1955), & “What America Would Be Like Without Blacks” (1970) WED 3/13: NO CLASS (SPRING BREAK)

9th WEEK, MAR 20TH: CREATIVE WRITING AS LITERARY CRITICISM WRITING: ~Paper #2 (Another Scene of Invisible Man) due by 11 am on W.O. under “Assignments” IN CLASS: ~Readings of Another Scene papers & an introduction to Octavia Butler Part 3: How Slavery Looked Yesterday & How It Looks Today

10th WEEK, MAR 27TH: “TALK[ING] TOO EDUCATED” READING: ~Octavia E. Butler, Kindred (1979), prologue-“The Fight” section 5 (pp. 9-131) IN CLASS: ~Insights from Gerry Canavan’s Octavia E. Butler (2016)

11th WEEK, APR 3RD: ORDINARY MONSTERS & THE EASE OF MAKING SLAVES READING: ~Butler, Kindred, “The Fight” section 6-epilogue (pp. 131-264) IN CLASS: ~Quiz #3 (covering material since Quiz #2) ~Group discussion of New Literary History of America essays: “Samuel Sewall, The Selling of Joseph,” “The Missouri crisis,” “The slave narrative,” “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” “Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker,” “Dystopian Surface, Utopian Dream”

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12th WEEK, APR 10TH: “MORE THAN USUAL BUT NOTHING REMARKABLE” READING: ~Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad (2016), “Ajarry”-“Stevens” (pp. 1-140) IN CLASS: ~Final New Literary History of America essays: “Hurricane Katrina” & “Barack Obama” ~An introduction to Ta-Nahisi Coates

13th WEEK, APR 17TH: WHITE DELUSIONS, BLACK DELUSIONS READING: ~Whitehead, The Underground Railroad, “North Carolina”-“The North” (pp. 141-306) IN CLASS: ~The value of the fantastic

14th WEEK, APR 24TH: “A NEW NATION HIDDEN BENEATH THE OLD”? READING: ~Ta-Nahisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations” (2014), as reprinted in We Were Eight Years in Power (2017, pp. 163-208) IN CLASS: ~Quiz #4 (covering material since Quiz #3) ~Barack Obama’s 2008 Philadelphia campaign speech on race, “A More Perfect Union” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrp-v2tHaDo

15th WEEK, MAY 1ST: WORKSHOPPING IN CLASS: ~BRING one hard copy of your Paper #3 draft for a guided writing workshop session

FINALS WEEK, MAY 8TH: RESILIENCE & RECOMMITMENT WRITING: ~Paper #3 (What Can Change) due by 11 am on Western Online under “Assignments” IN CLASS: ~Learning from places we fell short and celebrating our growth Required Texts PLEASE NOTE: *Prices below are rounded from recent amazon.com new prices—that site has free 2-day shipping for students. In many cases, used copies can be purchased less expensively (also try bookfinder.com). *I am happy for students to use complete electronic versions of texts so long as they use appropriate citation methods when writing papers and can accept occasional challenges in finding a given passage.

~Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give. Balzer & Bray, $10. ISBN: 978-0062871350. ~Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man. Vintage, $13. ISBN: 978-0679732761. ~Octavia Butler, Kindred. Bluestreak, $11. ISBN: 978-0807083697. ~Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad. Anchor, $12. ISBN: 978-0345804327.

5 Additional Recommended Texts (though in no way exhaustive!) FILMS “O” American History X Monster’s Ball Amistad The Shawshank Redemption The Green Mile Do the Right Thing Malcolm X A Family Thing Philadelphia Driving Miss Daisy The Power of One Ali The Apostle Training Day Ray The Help Selma Hidden Figures Straight Outta Compton Precious Black Panther Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse Green Book FICTION Harriet Wilson, Our Nig Jean Toomer, Cane Langston Hughes, Simple’s Uncle Sam Nella Larsen, Passing W.E.B. Du Bois, Dark Princess Richard Wright, Black Boy & Native Son Sinclair Lewis, Kingsblood Royal Flannery O’Connor, The Complete Stories James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain Samuel Delany, Triton Alice Walker, The Color Purple Walker Percy, The Last Gentleman Toni Morrison, Paradise Octavia Butler, Lilith’s Brood trilogy, Parable sequels Ralph Ellison, Three Days Before the Shooting … Richard Powers, The Time of Our Singing Ismael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo Colson Whitehead, The Intuitionist Rob Vollmar & Pablo Callejo, The Castaways Mat Johnson & Warren Pleece, Incognegro Jason Reynolds, Ghost Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely, All American Boys Grading Criteria I will figure final grades using the university scale (A, B, C, D, or F, with pluses/minuses) and the values below (with minor adjustments as needed). Please note the “My Grades” function on the course website, which lets you track assignment grades and estimate your current overall grade at any point.

40% Quizzes (4 x 10% each) 60% Papers (3 x 20% each)

Assignment Descriptions Quizzes: These will neither be picky, insignificant-detail interrogations, nor such easy affairs that one could prepare sufficiently by reading summaries. The idea is that most people who recently covered all assigned reading and viewing with good comprehension will average 70-80% of the points available (i.e., earn a “B” or better). Please keep in mind that each quiz only covers material since the previous one and will focus more heavily on primary than secondary texts. Students sometimes worry about the quizzes initially, but generally agree they provide valuable accountability during the course and allow for higher-quality, greater-depth discussions. My best advice is to get the reading and viewing done well in advance, then go back over it, your journals and in-class notes, and my “discussion notes” or other handouts. Checking your understanding and comparing reactions in outside-class conversations with classmates can also be very helpful. Paper #1 (Film Analysis): Choose ONE of the following recent films (BlacKkKlansman, Sorry to Bother You, Get Out, or Moonlight). While also referencing Fruitvale Station and/or The Hate U Give, build a 1000+ word non-obvious argument about what your film says about race and about confrontations between African Americans and police. (Keep in mind that this is NOT a film review: do not spend ANY of this space summarizing plot.)

6 Paper #2 (Another Scene): This is a creative writing assignment that requires a profound grasp of Invisible Man; think of it as literary criticism via fiction writing. Your job, in short, is to create an additional scene of at least 1000 words that could be inserted at any point within the text of Ralph Ellison’s novel without anyone but very experienced readers noticing. The more it matches Ellison’s style and the more it accentuates our understanding of some actual element of the novel—a character, a setting, an event, or some combination—the better. Good scenes will plausibly fit the novel and avoid contradictions with elements of character, setting, and plot that it makes clear; great scenes will also accentuate the novel, meaningfully unpacking additional elements that it did not explore or clarify. Paper #3 (What’s Changed?): Referring to at least two of the New Literary History essays we studied in class this semester, write a 1000+ word argumentative essay about what Kindred and/or The Underground Railroad suggests has and/or has not changed about racism and/or race relations in America since the antebellum period. As with the previous papers, do not use ANY space on plot summary. Instead, focus as fully as possible on the significance of 1-2 scenes and how they represent the significance of Butler’s and/or Whitehead’s novel(s). Where should we see repeated failure and where is there evidence of ongoing potential?

7 PLEASE NOTE: The following is part of all of my syllabi. Please read it carefully, but keep its generality in mind. My Teaching Philosophy and Expectations of Students The better we understand each other’s expectations, the more quickly we can develop a good working relationship. Here are a few key elements of my teaching philosophy: ~I want students to engage me and each other authentically and maturely. I hope this course will spark your curiosity in many ways, and that happens best when students honestly and tactfully share reactions to controversial topics. I intentionally raise such issues because a public university classroom is a uniquely valuable setting in which to explore and learn from frank, respectful disagreement. I aim for us to develop a classroom community that everyone appreciates and that extends beyond its walls. In these conversations, I aim to make room for all and to dignify every perspective insofar as possible; at the same time, I will not pretend complete neutrality is possible or even desirable, and there are times when it is my job to emphasize facts and offer insights that emerge from relative expertise. ~Just as critically, I expect students to be professionally responsible. You should approach this course as you might a challenging, rewarding job, one with tasks that are yours alone. I well understand that it is very hard to balance multiple classes, paid work, childrearing, and other responsibilities, but my roles include challenging you beyond your comfort zone and honestly assessing your academic work (not your value as a human being). Having a good sense of how your work stacks up, both in terms of strengths and weaknesses, is critical for your future decisions. Do your best to remember: a grade is only a snapshot of semester, and it takes a lot of these together to even begin to illustrate your abilities; in fact, your entire college/grad school GPA will never convey those as fully as the recommendation letters you enable professors to write about you. ~While we will be studying fields in which I am very experienced, I approach this class as a learner, too. Wisdom is not just knowledge, but humility, a deepening awareness of how much one does not know. I spent over a decade earning my graduate degrees not to be a guru, but to be in a position to empower others. You show you are ready for that with your simultaneous investment. In short, what you get out of this course will be closely tied to what you put into it, during and beyond class meetings. Attendance & Participation My courses differ substantially from those requiring regurgitation of memorized information. Our goals include learning new interpretive approaches, understanding diverse people and ideas, expanding critical thinking and creativity, strengthening analytical and writing skills, and learning from each other’s unique backgrounds. Thus preparation for each session, regular on-time attendance, and thoughtful discussion participation are crucial. Except in extreme circumstances, each class missed beyond 3 (with tardiness or early departure counting as ½ class) will automatically lower the final mark by 1/3 grade (e.g. missing 4 classes changes a B to a B-). Extensive absences will result in an “F” for the course. Classroom Courtesies Please excuse yourself when necessary; transitions are the best times. Please mute cell phones and other potential distractions; obviously, laptops and electronics should not be used during in-class quizzes. Finally, please wait to put away materials until we call it a day; I will respect your schedules as well. Communication While there are occasional errors, I do my best to build a trustworthy syllabus that won’t need major adjustments. Please read it thoroughly and consult it before asking questions. Also, keep in mind that unless you expect to be gone for multiple class meetings in a row, I don’t need to know about illnesses, transportation problems, work conflicts, or the other ordinary challenges. When you have a question not addressed on the syllabus or in class, please ask after class or in office hours. If that isn’t possible,

8 email is the next best option (far faster than voicemail). My goal is to respond within 2 business days, but if the answer would require more than a sentence or two, I may ask to talk in person. Finally, be aware that I do use email to make class announcements, so ensure I have an address you check daily. Frequently Asked Questions

1. Q. Can I make up the quiz I missed? A. Yes—but only within the next week (whether in office hours, during the next class meeting’s break, or immediately afterward). Also, I only offer this opportunity once per semester, barring extreme circumstances (which do not include having to work, car breakdowns, deaths in friends’ families, etc.).

2. Q. Can you tell me what I missed in class? A. Not really; the experience of most of our conversations and even my presentations will be difficult to replicate in other forms. However, I can say that almost every week, I hand out some form of discussion notes, and I post these on the website (under “Content”) soon thereafter, if not beforehand.

3. Q. What should I write about? A. What do you care about? What has grabbed you and evoked some sort of emotional response, whether positive, negative, or in some combination? I regularly encourage students to engage texts and questions that have significant personal resonance; most people do their best work when it means more than a grade. If you’re having a hard time getting at what you care about, seek out conversation—not just with me and peers, but also with family, friends, and others who know you well. Sometimes having to introduce your learning to those unfamiliar with the material helps the most in figuring out what excites you.

4. Q. How does your grading scale work?

A. My system may mean your grade is higher than you think. Western Online will compute your current course grade using my formula, but it’s simple to do yourself, too. Divide your points total by the points available so far, then multiply by 4 to translate to a 4.0 scale (and the corresponding letter grade). The same process can be used for any individual assignment. E.g. if you earned 8 out of 10 points on a quiz, you would divide 8 by 10 (=.80), multiple that by 4 (=3.20), and that would be between a B and a B+. At the course’s conclusion, when consistent attendance, participation, paper draft effort, and other course contributions warrant, I sometimes bump up borderline grades (but never down).

5. Q. Do you want a hard copy of my paper, and when will it be graded?

A. Please submit papers via the course website only; if it should be inaccessible as a deadline approaches, emailing the paper and then posting it the next day is fine. I rarely need more than 1-2 weeks to return papers online, but late papers often do take longer; please alert me of your submission with an email.

Further Writing Assignment Guidelines In addition to utilizing the argumentative essay revision guide at the end of this syllabus, it is worth familiarizing yourself with a good style guide. English majors should use MLA most often, but others (Chicago, APA, or another with pre-approval) are fine as long as they are consistently applied. Please use this page setup on all assignments, unless specified otherwise: 1” justified margins on all sides; size 12, Times New Roman font; and double-spacing. Finally, provide a cover page including paper title, course title and my name, your name, and date, as well as a list of works cited or a bibliography. Unless instructed otherwise, all assignments should be submitted online as a docx, doc, or rtf file. The Writing Center “The U.S. Bank WIU-QC University Writing Center is available to assist you with general and specific questions on writing assigned in any discipline and at any academic level. The one-on-one assistance available is valuable for generating ideas, talking about global-level issues such as organization, and even working through grammatical problems. The writing center is located in QC Complex 2219. Call 309-762-9481 for an appointment and be sure to bring a copy of your assignment.”

9 Late Work Barring extreme emergencies or prior arrangement, I will deduct one-third of a grade for each week (or portion thereof) that an assignment is late. If you anticipate special difficulty in meeting a deadline, please discuss this with me privately and well in advance so that if warranted, we can consider special arrangements. Readings and assignments are in many ways cumulative, so it is important that you keep up; at the same time, we lead busy lives and occasionally other priorities intervene. Balancing those realities, my policy aims to make being on-time important without making a rare delay devastating. Academic Dishonesty Plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty are among the most serious violations of a student’s integrity and of relationships with the instructor, fellow classmates, and the university. In the humanities, plagiarism most often involves presenting another person’s specific words or ideas as one’s own, whether by copying or closely paraphrasing, and without citing the source. Please be aware that such an offense will at minimum result in an “F” on the assignment and in many cases leads to an “F” for the course. In many of my courses, I briefly review proper citation, but if you have questions about how to credit an idea or information source, ask. If you are unsure about definitions or consequences of academic dishonesty, consult WIU’s Student Academic Integrity Policy at http://www.wiu.edu/policies/acintegrity.php. Counseling Services “Confidential counseling services are available for WIU-QC students. Time management, stress management, balancing work and family, study skills, low self-esteem, relationship problems, depression, and anxiety are some examples of issues that students may address in personal counseling. Students may call 309/762-1988 to make an appointment with Counseling and Career Services.” Accommodations “Students with disabilities: In accordance with University values and disability law, students with disabilities may request academic accommodations where there are aspects of a course that result in barriers to inclusion or accurate assessment of achievement. To file an official request for disability-related accommodations, please contact the Disability Resource Center at 309-298-2512, disability@wiu.edu or in 143 Memorial Hall. Please notify the instructor as soon as possible to ensure that this course is accessible to you in a timely manner.” Sex Discrimination/Title IX “University values, Title IX, and other federal and state laws prohibit sex discrimination, including sexual assault/misconduct, dating/domestic violence, and stalking. If you, or someone you know, has been the victim of any of these offenses, we encourage you to report this to the Title IX Coordinator at 309-298-1977 or anonymously online at: http://www.wiu.edu/equal_opportunity_and_access/request_form/index.php. If you disclose an incident to a faculty member, the faculty member must notify the Title IX Coordinator. The complete Title IX policy is available at: http://www.wiu.edu/vpas/policies/titleIX.php.” Food Insecurity Resources “Any student who has difficulty affording groceries or accessing sufficient food to eat every day and believes this may affect their performance in the course, is urged to contact The Pantry at WIU-QC for support: 309-762-3999 (x68041); Quad Cities Complex, Building C, Room 2412. Furthermore, please notify your professor if you are comfortable in doing so. This will enable your professor to help connect you with confidential support resources on campus. For more information about The Pantry at WIU-QC please visit: http://www.wiu.edu/qc/student_life/pantry/.” Student Rights & Responsibilities For further information on expectations for both students and university personnel, please see http://www.wiu.edu/provost/students.php.

10 Dr. Hamner’s Argumentative Essay Revision Checklist

The Introduction

1. Hook: Does your introduction (including the first sentence) efficiently grab readers’ attention without

being silly, exaggerated, or disconnected? Is the shift from it to the paper’s thesis natural or abrupt?

2. Thesis: Is it clear what sentence(s) convey the paper’s central claim? Ask yourself these questions, too: • Is your claim obvious or subtle? Boring or daring? Outlandish or plausible? • Is your claim vague or specific? General or precise? • Is something significant clearly at stake in your argument? Have you provided a sense of why it

matters whether your reader buys or dismisses your claim?

3. Map: Does the introduction preview the order in which the paper will examine the evidence?

The Body

4. Main Points: Can you summarize in a quick phrase the main point and/or task of each body paragraph, or are some paragraphs’ goals or relevance to the thesis unclear?

5. Topic Sentences and Concluding Sentences: Within a given paragraph, do the topic sentence and concluding sentence fit, without being identical? Do they provide meaningful links between paragraphs?

6. Organization: Are there any paragraphs that don't make logical sense in the organization of the essay—e.g. too-short/disconnected “lonely” paragraphs or too-long/repetitive “bullying” paragraphs? Should any be removed or integrated elsewhere? Can you reorder so the argument’s force grows more naturally?

7. Textual Evidence/Quotation: Is there sufficient evidence from specific texts (at least one quotation per body paragraph, as a general rule) to back up the argument’s main points? Are there appropriate page number citations? Does the paper introduce quotations with a sense of their original context? After quotations, do you offer interpretations of their meaning or just expect readers to hear them as you do?

8. Minimal Summary, Maximum Analysis: Except in briefly introducing unfamiliar key text(s), does the paper avoid plot summaries? Does your interpretive and analytical work remain the focus?

9. Reasonable Specifics, Not Generalities or Overreaches: Does your unique argument reach beyond back-cover or Wikipedia descriptions? Or does it resort to clichés anyone might say, or that could describe any text? (“The author uses lots of description to help readers understand.”) Does it make reasoned claims? Or does it rely on overstatements that cost you credence? (“In this story everything is about death.”)

The Conclusion

10. Closure: Does the conclusion bring the essay to a meaningful close or end abruptly? Does it avoid exact restatement of the introduction, but still reinforce your main points? Does it suggest how the essay’s main ideas might be expanded into other contexts and why it matters that your reader take them seriously?

Mechanics & Style

11. Grammatical & other mechanical issues: Has at least one strong writer proofread your paper? Among the most common problems (beyond spelling, capitalization, basic punctuation): • Pronoun reference: are the referents of your pronouns clear? Do they agree in number? • Run-on sentences and fragments: is each of your sentences a single, complete thought?

12. Stylistic issues: Have you presented your work in the most professional, attractive manner possible?

Among the most common problems, especially for less experienced writers: • Verbal “fluff”: is every word and phrase doing real work toward demonstrating your thesis? Have you

eliminated as much repetition as possible? You want the “impact per word ratio” as high as possible. • Have you stayed in the present tense while writing about literature, film, or other artistic texts? • Have you provided an accurate, unique, provocative, inviting title? • Does your paper fit the length and formatting requirements?